Witness Protection Program
by LuvFiction Xxxx
Summary: Ever wondered why Jerome's been at boarding school since he was five?, why he is so secretive? Why he never wanted to contact his dad? It started the night his dad was arrested. Jerome has to protect what little family he has left, even if it means lying to the people he loves most.
1. Chapter 1

**OK so I said I was going to make Joan the beater and John innocent but I changed my mind after certain events.**

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"I'm so scared" A woman said on the phone.

"I'm scared incase he comes back here, I'm scared if he tries to kill me again" The woman was crying hard now.

"I need someone to come over here, I don't want to be alone" Tears were running down her face.

"Can I not go out for a few hours with my friends without him getting drunk and sending me threatening texts?" The woman asked the person on the other end of the phone.

"Mum, What's happening?" a five-year old boy asked as he walked into the room.

"Nothing go back to bed, Jerome" Jerome's mum said hiding her face. Jerome was wakened by the sound of someone crying.

"Mum..." Jerome stopped talking when loud banging came from the door.

"OPEN THE DOOR!" Came a male voice.

"Jerome just go back to bed" Joan said sounding scared "I'll call you back" Joan said hanging the phone up as she walked past Jerome and to the door "Go away! I want nothing to do with you!"

"OPEN THE DOOORR OR I'LL BREAK IT DOWN!" The man behind the door was clearly drunk the man behind the door was Jerome's father.

"I'll call the police!" Joan shouted, after that everything went quiet, but not for long because the banging only got louder.

"OPEN THE DOOR OR I...I WILL...I'LL KILL YOU AND YOU BOYFRIEND!"

"I don't have a boyfriend, I've done nothing wrong, They're just friends"

Every 7 weeks Jerome's mum would go out with her friends and they would just sit and chat in a pub with a couple of their male friends. Every now and then while John was supposed to be looking after Jerome, John would drink a little too much, and would assume Joan was cheating on him.

Last time he got this drunk he tried to kill her, but she took him back, she took him back because Jerome was only just over a year old, and she didn't want him to grow up without knowing his dad.

This time he had drunk more than seven bottles of beer and a full 100cl bottle of Martini. Before he left to go find Joan and shout abuse at her, he broke a couple of things in the house and sent Jerome to his room. Luckily he didn't hit him, but he was close to doing it.

"I SAID OPEN THE DOOR" John shouted as he started to break it down.

"I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!" Joan shouted.

Jerome was getting really scared now. He had never seen his dad so angry and his mum so upset. He ran to the top of the stairs and started crying.

"Please, please make it stop, make it go away" Jerome kept rocking back and forth repeating this as tears slowly made their way down his face."I want to leave, I want to run away"

The door suddenly burst open and a very drunk, angry man was standing there. The smell of alcohol was so strong Jerome could smell it from the top of the stairs.

"I warned you to open the door" John said as he approached Joan.

John grabbed her and pull her up of the ground by her neck.

Jerome watched from the top of the stairs through the railings. Jerome watched as his father dragged his mum into the bathroom.

John was so loud that Jerome could still hear his mum and dad in the bathroom.

"YOU CHEATING WHORE!"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG" JOAN SCREAMED "HE'S JUST A FRIEND!"

hearing his mum so scared made Jerome shake and new sets of tears run down his face.

"DON'T F**KING LIE TO ME, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"NOOOOO PLEASE!" Joan screamed and Jerome cover his ears and began to rock back and forth on the stairs again.

With all the noise a neighbor called the police and they thankful showed up before things escalated.

John was arrested and Joan was getting her injuries looked at, and they were making sure the baby she was carrying was fine. She managed to get away with only a few bruises around her neck and some cuts on her face. The baby was also fine.

Jerome was still shaking at the top of the stairs afraid that his dad would come back for him. From the top of the stairs he heard his mum talking to the police.

"I want to keep my son safe, but I can't be a single mum with two children. I Won't be able to cope with that."

"There is a possible solution for that" The policeman said as he handed her a pamphlet.

"This way you'll both be safe." A woman police officer said.

"Then It's settled tomorrow me and my baby go into witness protection and Jerome goes to boarding school" Joan said as Jerome ran to his room.

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	2. Chapter 2

**So far on the poll this has the most Votes so I'm updating it :P**

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"Mum, where are we going?" Jerome said as he looked out the car window.

Jerome's mum didn't answer him she just kept driving.

"Where's dad?" Jerome asked looking at his mum.

"Far away"

"When is he coming back?"

"He's not coming back" Joan was becoming very annoyed by her son's questions.

"Why?"

"Because" Joan said as she turn the radio up.

Jerome was silent for a short time before he tried asking his first question again.

"Where are we going?"

"You're going somewhere, where you'll be safe"

"Are you not coming?"

"No"

"Why?" Jerome said as he looked at his mother with teary eyes. The silence after that made the rain that was beating down on the car seem as loud hammers hitting it.

The car ride was silent the rest of the way to Anubis house.

* * *

"Jerome?" Mara asked as she waved a hand in front of his face.

"Mm...What?" Jerome said as he stopped gazing out the window at the rainstorm.

"Were you paying attention?" Mara asked.

"No" Was the simple answer Jerome gave as he turned to stare back out the window.

Mara and Jerome were in the living room studying together but Jerome hadn't been paying attention all night and Mara was ready to give up.

"Okay we're not getting anywhere with Math how about we study...History, that's fun" Mara held up her history book "Jerome, JEROME!"

"Sorry what?" Jerome said turning his attention to Mara before quickly out the window again.

"Jerome what's wrong, you've been acting weird all day."

"...Nothing, I'm fine" Jerome said as he picked up his Math book "So what Math question were we on?"

"None, we're doing history now" Mara said smirking at Jerome.

"I knew that" Jerome said as he open his textbook. "What page?"

"Page 112 Chapter 11" Mara stated as she open it at the page and waited for Jerome.

When Jerome turned to the correct page he was not at all happy "Why do we have to learn this?" Jerome said Frowning at the book.

"Because our history teacher said it would be on the test. Mara said "Now don't go off in a dream land, we need to study."

"I really don't want to study history" Jerome said.

"Well you didn't want to study English or Math so history it is" Mara said as she began to read from the page "The witness protection program administered by the United States Department of Justice it is a service that is designed to protect threatened witnesses before, during, and after a trial." Mara looked up at Jerome and smiled "See this is interesting, You should take notes."

"I don't need to take notes" Jerome muttered.

"The witness Protection Program (also known as the Witness Security Program or WITSEC) was set up in the states but has become so popular with its high security it is now a service used around the world. The WITSEC has never had a breach of security in which a protected person or family member was harmed."

"That's good to know, well it's getting late I'm going to get to bed" Jerome quickly said as he collected his things and left.

"Jerome wait it's only 8:00pm" Mara shouted but he just kept walking.

"What's wrong with Jerry" Eddie asked as he walked into the room.

"I have no idea, But I'm going to find out."

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**If you haven't Voted on my poll you should this story might get out voted and go to the bottom of my list.**

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	3. Chapter 3

_"mum, When am I coming home?" Jerome asked as they drove up to Anubis house._

_"No ones going home, We are moving and you will stay at the new house during school breaks" She replied "Now you'll be staying here, get your suitcase and get out."_

_Jerome opened the car door and ran to the boot of the car, it was still pouring rain. He picked up his suitcase and ran for shelter at the porch of Anubis house._

_Joan then drove away without slowing down or stopping. She left her son that day on the doorstep of Anubis house._

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"Jerome, can I come in?" A sweet voice said from the other side of the door.

"Yea" Jerome replied as Poppy walked into the room and closed the door "what do you need Poopy."

"Don't call me that" Poppy said as she came over and sat next to her brother "Mara said you were upset"

"I'm not upset" Jerome chuckled.

"I can tell when you're lying, Jerome"

"Poppy, are you going to tell me why you're here or are you going to leave because I'm a busy man" Jerome said as he lay down in his bed.

"well I was just wondering if you had gotten any news about dad?" Poppy said sheepishly.

Jerome paused and thought, he was very hesitant to answer, Poppy wasn't even born when this mess began. She never know her dad, she was never told what he did. Jerome could understand why she wanted answers, but he was not prepared to give what little information he knew.

"Sorry poopy, Dad's gone you need to get over that" Jerome said with a serious look on his face.

"That's not fair" Poppy said getting very angry.

"Life's not fair" Jerome said making Poppy even angrier.

"You can remember dad, I can't."

"Be happy you don't remember him. All my memories are bad."

Poppy was quiet, she was on the verge of tears, and what Jerome said next didn't help.

"Do you want to know what our dad was like?" Jerome asked and before Poppy could respond he continued "He was a loser, a drunk...He didn't care about you or me, he didn't even care about mum, He is where he belongs...out of our lives"

"I want him in my life" Poppy argued.

"No...no you don't."

"You don't know what I want."

"I know what's best for you" Jerome answered as he came to eye level with Poppy "And what best for you is to be far away from that guy."

"The only guy I want to be far away from is you" Poppy said as she left the house in tears. The house had heard the argument and had gathered in the hallway when Poppy stormed out.

"Making girls cry now, Clarke" Mick said with a smug look on his face.

"Shut it, Campbell" Jerome answered as he went back to his room and slammed the door.

* * *

"Jerome are you okay?" Mara knock softly on the door waiting for an answer that never came "Jerome can I come in?"

On the other side of the door Jerome had turned his Ipod to the highest volume and was now blasting the music in his ears.

The music was so loud Mara could hear it. It was then that Mara realized that Jerome couldn't hear her and had the music up so loud so he couldn't hear her.

"Jerome" Mara said as she walked into the room.

Jerome didn't look up he was sat on the bed with his knees to his chest just looking at his Ipod.

Mara slowly made her way over to him and sat beside him.

"Jerome? Jerome can you please talk to me?" Mara said as she put a hand on his knee.

Jerome looked at Mara in the eyes before sighing, pausing the music and taking out the headphones.

"If this is about Poppy, then forget it, I don't want to talk about it."

Mara had gotten to know Jerome and when he said he didn't want to talk about something, you should probably leave it to when he's ready.

"Jerome I know you don't want to talk about it, but talking helps" Mara said as she moved closer to Jerome "What were you two fighting about anyway?" Mara asked and she could feel Jerome tense up.

"We were talking about my dad" Jerome said deciding to keep it brief It wasn't safe talking about it. Jerome was scared that any day his dad would get out of prison, and come and find him. Jerome's life has been a lie. His last name wasn't even Clarke, but after that night his mum had told him that Clarke would be their new name, to keep them safe. Jerome didn't feel safe, he never felt safe.

"What about your dad?" Mara asked taking Jerome away from his thoughts.

"Oh nothing, I shouldn't have mentioned it" Jerome said as he stood up, and walked towards the door "Well bye Mara it was nice having this chat."

Before Mara could say or ask anything else Jerome closed the door in her face.

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Meanwhile...

Poppy was in the school library, trying to find out more about her dad.

"If Jerome won't help me, I'll find you by myself" Poppy said as she researched any information they had on John Clarke.

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**Ok thoughts on that chapter? Hope you liked it. Poppy is now in the story and there will be more Jara I just need to get into the story a bit more before the awesome Jara moments can happen :P**

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	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Poppy, what are you doing?" Mara asked as she walked into the school library.

"Oh Mara, hi, I...I was just" Poppy stuttered.

Mara looked at the screen, poppy was on a familysearch website.

"Are you researching your family?"

"I'm looking for my dad" Poppy said sadly "Jerome's no help."

"Why won't Jerome help you?" Mara asked as she sat down with Poppy.

"He says that dad left us and that he's a bad person" Poppy started "But no one's 100% Bad are they?"

"Of course not" Mara reassured her.

"I just want answers my mum doesn't give them to me, she doesn't talk about dad at all, and Jerome he does everything in his power to make sure I don't find anything out."

"Well what do you know about your dad, I'll be glad to help you" Mara said with a smile.

"Really? You'll help me?" Poppy said excited.

"Of course."

"How can someone as nice as you be dating my brother?"

"Me and Jerome aren't dating" Mara laughed as she smiled and got the best familysearch website she knew.

"I always thought you were, You seem so friendly with each other"

"Well that's all we are...friends" Mara had never thought about going out with Jerome. Did she even think about him in that way? When ever she thought about him she would smile, but that didn't mean she liked him,did it?

"Ok so what's your dad's name?" Mara asked trying to get off the subject.

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"Has anyone seen Mara?" Jerome asked as he walked around the house.

"The way you treated her I won't be surprised if she doesn't want to see you ever again" Mick smirked as he went out for a run.

The library, Of course, he should have thought of that sooner, Jerome quickly made his way to the library to apologize to Mara.

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"Okay so your dad's first name is, John" Mara said as she typed it into the computer "Second name Clarke" Mara said as she click on the next box that said 'Birthplace' "Do you know where your dad was born?" Mara asked turning to Poppy.

She shook her head.

"Well that's okay" Mara said as she clicked the search button "How many could there be?" Mara said trying to cheer Poppy up.

"236,835 for John Clarke" Poppy said as the results were displayed on the screen.

"That's okay" Mara said but she knew it was hopeless, unless they knew more about John Clarke, to narrow down the search options, then the search was basically over. Then Mara got an idea.

"Poppy, If we find out more about your dad we can narrow the options down and make this a lot easier"

"But how can we find out If Jerome won't tell me" Poppy said sadly.

"I'll trick him into telling me" Mara said smirking.

"Can you really trick my brother?, he's pretty hard to trick."

"I'll manage" Mara said just as Jerome came into the room.

"Hey Mara..." Jerome paused when he saw Poppy and Mara. Poppy quickly closed what they were doing on the computer and stared at her brother.

"What are you two doing?" Jerome asked suspiciously.

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**OKAY There you go another Update, Hope you liked it :P**

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	5. Chapter 5

"What are you two doing?" Jerome asked suspiciously.

Mara and Poppy were quiet for a minute, they had to lie but they had to make it convincing or Jerome would get suspicious and catch them out.

"Mara was helping me with some homework" Poppy answered.

"OK then...Mara could I talk to you?" Jerome asked becoming a bit nervous.

"Yea of course" Mara walked out into the hall so their talk would be more private.

As soon as they were alone Jerome started to apologize.

"Mara I'm so sorry about the way I treated you earlier...It's just I don't like talking about my dad, and..."

Jerome stopped talking when Mara put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay Jerome I'm not mad, I understand that you don't like talking about your family" Mara paused thinking of the right words to say "But if you ever need to I'll be here to listen."

Jerome smiled, a genuine smile. He leaned down and hugged Mara tightly around the waist. Mara hugged back just as tightly. Jerome still hugging Mara, whispered in her ear.

"I'd like that, Thanks, Mara, for everything" Jerome pulled away and smiled again, Mara returned the smile but couldn't stop the ping of guilt rise in her heart.

Jerome walked down the halls and out the school doors, as soon as he was gone Poppy came out of the library.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Good, I think he trusts me" Mara said as the guilt rose again, she felt really bad for doing this to Jerome. She was betraying his trust, she had never done anything like this before.

"Mara, are you sure you want to do this?" Poppy asked seeing the look of guilt on Mara's face.

"Yea, I promised I'd help you find your dad, so I will" Mara said smiling.

"Great, we'll meet back here tomorrow at the same time to see what he told you" Poppy said as she got her stuff and waved goodbye to Mara.

* * *

Jerome lay on his bed staring at the ceiling when he heard a knock at the door.

on the other end was a very nervous Mara.

"Come in" She heard Jerome say from the other end of the door. She swallowed her fear and tried to be calm.

"Hey" Mara said as she opened the door and sat beside Jerome on the bed.

"Hi" Jerome said as he sat up beside her "I don't really know where to begin" Jerome said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"well let's start from the beginning" Mara said being nice "Have you always lived in Liverpool?" Mara asked starting the conversation. It was simple enough ask question that could help them narrow the results down.

Jerome chuckled at Mara's question before answering.

"No, We actually lived in London until we moved here."

"You, you're mum, dad and Poppy lived in London?"

"No, Poppy was born in Liverpool, my mum and I lift London when I was five."

"Why did your dad not come with you?" Mara said sounding concerned and keeping her voice soft.

"We had our reasons."

"Why don't you want to tell Poppy about her dad?" Mara asked as she waited for Jerome answer.

"Because he's a horrible guy, Mara" Jerome stated his voice becoming a little harsh "and he's dangerous."

Mara was a bit taken back by what Jerome just said, was he overreacting?, was she doing the right thing helping Poppy find her possibly dangerous father?

"How is he dangerous?" Mara asked but Jerome shook his head.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that" Jerome said calming down again. Mara decided to try to get a little more information out of Jerome. So far all she had found out was that their dad's possible birthplace was London.

"Sooo...What part of London did you live in?"

"Why do you want to know?" Jerome asked getting suspicious.

"Just curious... I just wanted to get to know you a little better" Mara said sound honest and Jerome relaxed.

"Hackney... Most of my family were born there" Jerome said "I think everyone was born there...except Poppy" Jerome said, at least now Mara was getting somewhere.

"So John Clarke was your dad's full name?" asked hoping there would be more to his name that could help them match the right person.

"No, his real name is John Trent Colbert" Jerome said not even realizes what he was doing. Once Jerome started talking to Mara he could never stop. she brought his secrets to the surface.

Mara thought she had enough to go on now and decided to leave it at that.

"Well if you ever need to talk about anything you can trust me" Mara almost didn't get to finish the sentence because of guilt _"You can trust me"_ could he trust her, she was going behind his back, and she couldn't help but wonder why did they change their name when they moved. There must be more to this then she thought.

But she couldn't go back now she had promised Poppy.

Mara quickly exited leaving Jerome in the room alone.

Mara ran up the stairs and into her room. She grabbed her notebook and took a fresh page.

On that page she wrote down all the information she had got out of Jerome.

Tomorrow she would give it to Poppy and see what results they got for John Trent Colbert.

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**Sorry for the long wait for this update, I'll try to make updates quicker as long as reviews keep coming in.**

**I tried to put a little Jara in there.**

**Things are heating up. Poppy and Mara are getting closer to Poppy's dad, and Jerome is for once clueless at what's happened.**

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	6. Chapter 6

**OMG I'm so sorry for the long wait guys.**

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"Hi Mara did you get any information?" Poppy asked as Mara walked up the halls of the school.

Mara took a quick minute to think about what she was doing, she opened her bag searched through her books, she paused when she saw the notebook. Was she doing the right thing? Was it worth possibly losing Jerome's _friendship? __  
_

as hard as it was for her, she had made a promise to Poppy.

"Here it is" Mara said sadly ripping the pages with the information Jerome had 'given' her. He didn't give it to her, she had basically stolen it from him.

However Poppy was far too happy to notice the look on her face or the tone of her voice.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Poppy screamed "I'll never forget all the things you've done for me" Poppy smiled hugging the papers to her chest "THANK YOU!" She screamed again before hugging Mara tightly.

"It was no problem" Mara said about to walk away to get to class early.

"How did you manage it?" Poppy said linking arms with Mara and walking with her.

"I just asked him questions that I knew would have the answers we needed but in a regular conversation so he didn't suspect anything" Mara tried to act like she had done a good thing, but it was obvious to her that she had broken Jerome's trust, if he ever found out...

* * *

"Has anyone seen Mara?" Jerome asked sitting at the table.

"I didn't see her when I woke up" Patricia said.

"Oh I saw her" Trudy smiled walking into the room.

"When?" Jerome asked.

"This morning, she said something about going into school early."

Jerome sat at the table and thought about the conversation last night, Mara wasn't really acting herself, she looked on the edge, shifty even, like she was hiding something.

Did the conversation freak her out? was she avoiding him? Jerome couldn't help but worry now.

"I'm going" Jerome said abandoning his breakfast and running towards school. Although it killed him being 'Just friends' with the beautiful Mara Jeffray, he could lose her friendship. He had to know if she was still his friend.

* * *

Mara and Poppy sat in the student lounge going over the information Mara got.

"I can't believe you got all this out of my brother" Poppy smiled.

"He's not that bad you know, he just has..." Mara tried to think of the right word. but her mind drew a blank.

"Problems" Poppy smirked.

"I'd say issues" Mara corrected.

"Issues, like what, Jerome doesn't have a care in the world. Wait, he does, he only cares about himself" Poppy frowned.

"No that's not true" Mara said rubbing her arm "He cares about you, even though he acts like he can't stand you, I know that he loves you, he just has...trust issues" There it was again, that word 'Trust' the thing she had broken, it made her scare to think what Jerome would say if he found out what she had done. He would never speak to her again.

"I know someone else Gerbil cares about" Poppy smiled, Mara snapped out of her daydream and looked at Poppy.

"Who?" She asked confused.

"You of course" Poppy laughed "He's crazy about you, I've never seen him smiled like the way he does when he's around you"

Mara smiled at Poppy's words, It made her feel good to be cared about.

"When he smiles at you, he's smiling for you, it's the smile he gives for you and only you" Poppy explained but Mara had gone into another daydream, a happy daydream where her and Jerome were happy.

* * *

Jerome walked into the school and down the halls towards the student lounge.

When he got there the doors were shut but he could hear people talking. Jerome being the way he was, decided to listen.

"I think we should see if we get any results with this information after school today" A voice on the other end of the door said.

The conversation sounded boring so Jerome decided to just walk in.

He opened the door to see a very shocked Mara and Poppy.

"Oh hello ladies" Jerome smiled at Mara, that smile, the one Poppy said was just for Mara.

"And what are you up to, Poopy" Jerome gave her a brotherly smirk pointing to the papers in her hand.

"Nothing" She said quickly as she shoved them in her bag and got up "See you after school, Mara?" Poppy asked and Mara nodded.

Poppy quickly walked out of the room and towards her first lesson.

"So you've not been avoiding me have you?" Jerome joked as he sat down next to Mara studying her body moments and expressions.

"No...not at all, just came in early to study" Mara said.

Her voice quiver, she was fidgeting with her hands and she blinked rapidly. Jerome could tell she was lying and nervous, but of what?, what made her nervous and why was she lying to him?

"Do I make you nervous, Jeffray?" Jerome narrowed his sparkling blue eyes looking into her brown ones.

"No, of course not" Jerome could tell she was telling the truth now.

"Well about the conversation we had yesterday, I know it must have made you...uncomfortable and I just wanted to say that I don't want anything between us to change, Are we still friends?" Jerome asked nervous for the answer.

"No."

"What?" Jerome's eye's widened.

* * *

**This was going to be longer but sorry I decided to be cruel and end it on that little cliff hanger.**

**Anyway the poll 'What story should I focus on?' Is back up because I need to know which of all my stories is the most popular and which I should focus on, so if you like this and want an update vote on my poll.**

**After that if you can also find the time to leave a review - even just :) or :( that's fine it takes to seconds.**

**Keep Calm & Luv Fiction...**

**(It might be hard for Jara lovers to keep calm after that ending) Vote and Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Don't read this...you read it, didn't you?**

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"Are we still friends?" Jerome asked nervous for the answer.

"No."

"What?" Jerome's eye's widened. He stared at Mara, Jerome couldn't believe that this was happening.

"No, no I meant the conversation yesterday didn't make me uncomfortable and it make me so happy that you can open up to me" Mara said calming Jerome down.

"Oh, well it's because I trust you that I open up to you" Jerome smiled, not noticing the frown on Mara's face.

_Trust, trust, trust, you can trust me, I can trust you._

It was getting too much for Mara, she was never good at keeping secrets and with all the guilt on her shoulders, she didn't know how much more she could keep it up.

"Mara, are you ok?" Jerome asked concerned.

"Yea, yea I'm fine" Mara smiled.

"Are you sure?" Jerome was not very convinced, he couldn't help it, but he worried all the time for Mara, he just cared...

"Yes" Mara laughed and gave Jerome an award-winning smile "I should head to class" Mara said smiling and walking out the room.

When she was down the corridor she looked back and sighed with relief, she couldn't lie to Jerome, but she couldn't break her promise to Poppy. What was she going to do?

* * *

School went by slowly for Mara she had tried to avoid Jerome as much as possible, but after class he would walk with her and at lunch he asked if they could sit together.

She wanted to say yes, but if she did she would have told him and he would never forgive her.

The last lesson was done and Jerome ran up to Mara as she walked down the halls.

"Are you sure we're still friends?" Jerome felt lonely, and hated, he knew Mara could never hate anyone or anything but it seemed to Jerome that she had avoided him all day.

"Of course, I've just been busy."

"Good, then can I walk you home?" Jerome asked with a smile.

"I'd love to but I promised Poppy" Mara said as she walk towards the computer library turning to Jerome.

"You and Poppy seem to be spending a lot of time together" Jerome narrowed his eyes.

"Well we are friends" Mara said as she walked away.

* * *

"Hey what took you so long?" Poppy asked as Mara walked in and sat at a computer.

"Sorry, Jerome wanted to walk me home" Mara said as she switched the computer on.

"See I told you he cares" Poppy smirked.

"No, he was just being a good friend" Mara smiled and Poppy rolled her eyes.

"So should we do this?" Poppy asked.

Mara stopped to think, should she? yes she made a promise to Poppy.

"Yes, let's do this" Mara half-smiled.

Mara typed into the family search 'John Trent Colbert, Hackney, London'

She hit enter and waited for the results to load. finally the results page came up and showed three results for 'John Trent Colbert, Hackney, London'

"So which one is my dad?" Poppy asked.

"We call them all and find out" Mara said picking up her phone.

* * *

**Don't forget to vote on my poll, there are no votes at the moment for this story**

**Keep Calm & Luv Fiction...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi to the guest that reviewed, I'm sorry that the chapters were short, I've just been in a rush, so I hope this is at a better length for you. Sometimes I'm writing and I think, **

**that's a good cliffhanger, I leave it there. sorry about that :/**

* * *

Hello? could I speak to John Trent Colbert please?" Mara said into the phone as Poppy paced nervously, this was the second one on the list they had tried, the first on was lonely bitter old man, never married, no family. "Oh I see, oh really ok, I'm sorry, thank you, bye" Mara said sadly as she hung the phone up. As soon as she did Poppy jumped at her with 200 questions.

"What happened? Was it him? What did he say?" Poppy said at a fast pace.

"That John Colbert recently passed away" Mara said sadly, she saw the shock on Poppy's face and quickly explained "But it wasn't your dad, that man was like 93!"

"So now there's one left" Poppy said nervously.

"which means it's properly him" Mara said hopefully as she picked the phone up.

The phone rang for a while until finally someone picked up.

"West End Central Police Station, how may I help you?" A women said in a friendly voice.

"Oh I'm sorry I...I must have the wrong number" Mara said awkwardly as she apologized and hung the phone up.

"What?" Poppy asked.

"I think I dialed the wrong number" Mara said as she looked back at the screen and dialed again, very carefully this time.

"West End Central Police Station, how may I help you?" The same women answered.

"Oh um I don't know, I'm looking for someone and this was the number that came up" Mara said, she didn't know what to do in this situation.

"Is this a missing persons report or are you looking for a prisoner?" The women asked.

Mara would have to say prisoner but she couldn't say it in front of Poppy.

"I'm going to do this outside" Mara said holding the phone to her chest. Poppy looked confused but allowed her to leave.

"Hi I'm back and I'm looking for a prisoner by the name of John Trent Colbert" Mara said into the phone making sure no one was around to listen.

"Ok, Please hold" The woman said as she put Mara on hold.

Mara waited for a while until finally she was back through to the woman.

"We do have someone by that name registered here, are you family?" The women asked.

"No, um is it possible to write?" Mara asked.

"Yes you'll find all the information to do that on our website, Is there anything else?"

"No, no thank you" Mara said as she hung up. Mara sighed and leaned against the locker, she was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Poppy.

"Was it him?" She asked in excitement.

I don't know?" Mara said truthfully "We need to write and find out" Mara said and Poppy looked confused.

"Why?"

"Poppy if this man is your dad, then, your dad is in prison" Mara said shyly.

"What? How do you know?" Poppy asked on the brink of tears.

"I dialed the number and the west end police station picked up, and they have a prisoner there by the same name as your dad."

Poppy didn't say anything, she was in a state of shock, was Jerome right, was her dad a bad man, or did he just do something bad?

"Poppy I understand if you don't want to contact him but..."

"NO, I want to write to him, I want to see him, I want to talk to him" Poppy said as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Ok" Mara smiled "I'll help you write the letter" Mara said as they walked and toward Anubis house.

* * *

"Hey I was wondering where you were" Jerome smiled as he saw Mara walk in.

"Yea me and Poppy are going up to my room" Mara said as Jerome looked and saw Poppy standing behind Mara.

"Gerbil" Poppy said with a straight face.

"Poopy" Jerome said mirroring her expression.

"Brotherly & sisterly love, isn't it sweet" Mara joked.

"Well I was wondering if you would like to watch a movie with me Jaffray?" Jerome smiled at the nickname he had given her "Or are you too busy with the poopster?" Jerome smiled as Poppy hit his arm.

"I'd love to but first Poppy and I have to do something" Mara said as the walked up the stairs to her room.

"Ok you have fun with your new best friend I'll be waiting in my room" Jerome smiled until she was out of sight, Poppy was always hanging around Mara now, and he could never get time alone with her.

Jerome walked to his room and remembered he didn't ask Mara what movie she would like to watch. He knew she wouldn't like any Zombie horror movies, so he went to go ask her.

* * *

"I can't believe after all these years I'll finally get some answers" Poppy couldn't help but smile.

"Ok so in the letter so far I've written about you and Jerome and that if he is your father to please get in touch and write back, anything else?" Mara asked as she put the pen down.

"I think that should do it" Poppy smiled.

"Ok then, here you go" Mara smiled handing Poppy the letter "Post it when you're ready."

Poppy smiled as she took the letter and opened the door, she was about to put the letter in her bag and walk out when she saw Jerome standing at the doorway.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Mara's heart stopped, if Jerome found out now that she broke his trust, she could never fix it.

Poppy and Mara stood still, neither moving, both to shocked and scared to speak.

"Who are you writing to?" Jerome asked since no one would talk to him.

Jerome looked round confused, what was going on, he didn't hear the entire conversation but now he knew he had to keep an eye on Mara and Poppy.

* * *

**I hope that was a good length :) **

**The poll is still open...**

**Keep Calm & Luv Fiction...**


	9. Chapter 9

"What's up with you two?" Jerome asked trying to act casually, like he never heard anything they were saying.

"Nothing" Mara said quickly, smiling at Jerome.

Jerome smiled back but was still not convinced.

"Are you sure? You seem...a little jumpy" Jerome narrowed his eyes.

"Yea I'm sure, Poppy was just leaving...are you ready to watch the movie?" Mara smiled.

Jerome couldn't help but smile back, when Mara smiled he felt lighter than air.

"What movie are we watching?" Mara's soft voice caused him to snapped out of his thoughts and as he came back to reality he smiled at how beautiful she looked at that moment.

Jerome looked around the room and noticed that Poppy had slipped away.

"Um well that's what I came to ask you" Jerome smiled.

"Well my parents sent me a movie a few weeks ago, I haven't had the change to watch it yet" Mara suggested.

"Sounds good" Jerome smiled sweetly. Mara laughed as she went to get the movie.

When Mara had turned her back to Jerome and he couldn't see her face, her smiled dropped, she couldn't help but feel awful for what she's doing to him, she didn't know whether or not she was doing the right thing, she always did the right thing, but now she know there was no way to do the right thing now, either way she would end up hurting someone.

* * *

Poppy ran down the stairs and out of Anubis house as fast as she could, She wanted to post the letter as soon as possible so that she could get a quick reply.

Poppy stood in front of the post box with the letter in her hand, she didn't know why but as she stood there, with the letter that could get her the answers she needed and wanted so badly, she began to have second thoughts.

Poppy pushed the thoughts from her mind and pushed the letter into the post box, she kept it there for a few moments before taking a deep breath, letting go of the letter and letting it fall to the bottom.

Poppy walked away smiling, positive she did the right thing.

* * *

The movie bored Jerome to no end, It was a romantic, sappy love film and those kind of films bored Jerome. However if he was watching it with Mara he liked it, he enjoyed sitting on the bed with her, close together, hugging each other as the movie played.

The title made him feel guilty, the title of the movie they were watching was 'Secrets & Lies.' He felt guilty because he had so many secrets that he couldn't tell anyone, so many secrets he couldn't share with Mara, but it was for his safety and the safety of his family. He lied to protect his family, his whole life was a lie, but it was the right thing to do.

Sometimes he would ask himself...

_Is it the right thing to do?_

Surely Poppy was old enough to know the truth and to be trusted with it. To be trusted with the answers she has wanted for so long, even if it's not the answers she wanted.

He thought about telling her so many times, but no matter how much Poppy wanted answers, the right thing to do was to keep the secrets and continue lying to the people he loves most, because it will keep them safe, it would keep all of them safe.

* * *

Mara didn't know what the movie that her parents sent her was call, and she didn't know what it was about.

When she opened the parcel she dreaded suggesting they watch it.

'Secrets & Lies' the two things that were on her mind and that she wanted to forget about.

She was lying to Jerome and keeping secrets from him.

for the hundredth time she thought about the rights and wrongs of what she was doing.

If she stopped helping Poppy she'd be hurting her, but keeping Jerome's trust, and If she continued helping Poppy Jerome would be hurt, his trust would be broken and so would their friendship.

What was the right thing to do?

Keep Poppy friendship? Or Jerome's?

The more she thought about the more it felt like nothing was right, everything was wrong.

She watched the movie keeping her face hidden from Jerome within a hug.

She felt like crying at how much things had been messed up, but she had to act strong and continue like everything was alright.

But it wasn't alright nothing was right and Mara was positive she was not doing the right thing.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter but I didn't think it needed anything else (Perhaps a few more Jara moments) But other than that I thought that was a good place to leave it.**

**Keep Calm & Luv Fiction...**


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